A very good afternoon to my faithful audience this third of February!
Ary koa, bravo Seahawks! ( vorondriaka in Malagasy) Tohizo fa tsara!
I just got back from going to possibly the most beautiful place on the entire planet earth, a beach that is about a two hour walk from where we live out past the Rio Tinto port Ehoala. Words cannot describe, and apparently pictures can't either because my camera died after taking just a few photos over there, so I have put up the ones that I took! And anyway yeah, that was our P-day adventure today. And I even put on a ton of sunscreen mom! (and Kiira!) but I'm fairly certain that the heat and sun beyond human comprehension straight murdered the four gallons I put on... oh well, I tried.
 |
| The most beautiful place on planet Earth |
Critter tales from the week-- I dug several african fleas out of my foot, yay! They have a nasty habit of burrowing into ones foot and then laying eggs, but then again, who are we to deprive him of a happy life? And then another day I walked out of the bathroom right before bed and was like 'oh hey, thats a cool lizard on the wall' (there are millions all over our house) and then realized that it had a long pointy tail and two big claws and was like 'wait a second, thats a scorpion??!' So yeah, basically I found out this week that there are scorpions down here. Cool
There have been some crazy awesome reactivation stories going on in the A branch, and some of them have been direct results of the efforts of the ward council to have soirees with less actives. One is a man named E, the less active who we built the fence for and have been visiting every week for ages, and whose baby I was able to bless. He had a huge drinking problem before, and when the missionaries taught him in the beginnning of 2013 he stopped drinking so he could get baptized. And he stopped completely. However, soon after he was baptized he started drinking again. And then, we did the service for him (building the fence to help them get some privacy, and also give them a way to keep out unwelcome friends that encouraged him to drink) and had a ward soiree with him in the same week. Ever since he has come to church 3 times and has not drunken at all, and has even received a calling. I can't say what exactly brought the change. I can't say if it is permanent or what, but all I can say is that if a person feels the love of those that serve him and take time out of their days to help him then he is much more willing to change and listen.
Less active-- Sr C. We didn't even know she existed until the ward council brought us with them to have a soiree with her. Ever since, she has been coming to church. Even her husband has come, who is not a member.
Less active-- M and J. J got sick and had to have an operation, and was stuck in the hospital for a while. We visited her several times with people from the branch and a few times without as well, sharing scriptures with her and bringing her yogurt and bringing the sacrament etc. Ever since, M has come to church (she still can't because she is still recovering in her house)
Less active-- Fr M. It seemed like this man really had nothing going on in his life when it came to the church, I kinda questioned if he was actually, truly already baptized. We were visiting him weekly, although it seemed like the visits didn't do much. Then we decided to change our focus, and took a more active approach to teaching him, getting him involved. We focused on the priesthood, getting a calling, and preparing for the temple. And he came to a branch council soiree thing that was at the church. Ever since, has been coming to church.
Less active-- Sr A. She truly should not have been less active, but was because she was working so hard to support her family that she couldn't even make it to church. Recently, she got sick, and asked for us to come give her a blessing. So we did. That was just last Saturday.She didn't receive any miraculous healing or anything, in fact I'm not sure if she received any at all, but in the blessing special reference was made to coming to church. That if she came to church, she would be able to receive whatever it was she needed. She was bedridden at that point. Yesterday, she came to church. It had nothing to do with us or the blessing, but her faith IN that blessing. She just needed encouragement and love, and because of her faith she was able to do the rest.
Maybe little miracles, but miracles nonetheless. And many of them. And that has everything to do with the amazing faith of the people here, members who are willing to take some time and show their love, and Elder Fox's amazing good looks :).
Yesterday we taught this young girl named C for the first time, whose brother is a less active/maybe moved or something. She had come to church a couple of times before this too. Just that in and of itself is proof to me of one of the basic principles of missionary work-- talk to everyone! No matter what day it is, even if its P-day. Because when I first met C was a couple P-days ago, when Elder Mitchell and I went to the beach to watch a cruise ship and hopefully see some of those crazy weird looking white people. There we were, just sitting on a beautiful sandy beach when a group of kids and people came up and were talking to us, drawn over by the fact that we actually speak their language. With them was this young girl, a seller of baskets or bracelets or something. As I now know, her name is C. It was just a simple conversation, talked about the church and when we meet, about how we teach English etc. etc. blah blah blah, nothing special. I invited her to church and then never saw her again... until she came to church! Therefore, talk to everybody.
The lesson we had with her yesterday I thought was super cool, just because we had it outside (nothing special) on the top of a big hill in this area that I imagined was a Malagasy version of the sacred grove. (She is 14 years old too, and we taught about Joseph Smith... coincidence?) Soon after that it started pouring rain like nobodies business, so we basically swam for a mile or two as we walked to our next appointment after that. A drunk guy gave Elder Mitchell a hug in a mistaken attempt to help Elder Mitchell stand up on our way to the next appointment too, so that was a win.
Great scripture for y'all, one that I absolutely love: D and C 71:7-10--- Which simply says to fear nothing, no weapon or scheme or enemy of any kind will be able to overcome you if you are on the Lord's side. That is very true. And is not just applicable to missionaries I feel, but all of us who have picked the Lord's side.
Well, have a great week everyone, and make sure to wear lots of sunscreen!
Love
Elder Me
No comments:
Post a Comment